Whether you're sending a package to Sweden or France, Shipit Q&A compiles the most common questions and answers from online retailers about starting international deliveries.
Sending packages abroad still seems to scare and puzzle many online retailers. However, starting international deliveries doesn't need to be scary or especially difficult! To ease this pain, we sat down with our Chief Operating Officer, Sami Hakanen, and listed 10 most common questions and answered them in our blog!
Q1: When can an online store start international shipments?
First, we want to remind you that there are no barriers to building an online store that supports international deliveries right from the start. We want to encourage entrepreneurs who are just building their online store to consider international deliveries already during the construction phase. In practice, this means that it's good for the store to be multilingual or directly in English, for example. The cost of additional language versions is often small but can enable reaching a much wider consumer base in the best case. From a shipping perspective, it's the same effort to deliver to Paris as it is to Tampere.
Q2: Do I need to notify anyone in advance about international trade?
When talking about shipments between EU countries, beginning merchants don't need to make separate notifications as tax is paid in the country of origin. The company needs to apply for a free EORI-number from customs, which is used as an identifier when dealing with customs authorities in other EU member states. If you want to expand deliveries to countries outside the EU, separate commercial invoices must be made for these deliveries. However, most e-commerce platforms support creating commercial invoices, and they no longer need to be done separately on customs websites. As sales grow, it's good to familiarize yourself with the OSS system, but this isn't relevant until your foreign sales exceed €10,000 / year.
Q3: What should be considered before sending the first package abroad?
The most important thing in our opinion is considering the product range. Many shipping services have cubic pricing, and sending very large packages might be expensive. However, shipping costs for so-called normal-sized and small products are close to domestic prices. Special attention should also be paid to shipping packaging materials. When sending a package abroad, there can be over ten handlers and loading phases, and the package naturally needs to last until delivery.
It's also worth offering consumers several different shipping options. Courier services have increased in popularity among consumers abroad despite their slightly higher delivery fees. According to studies, clear tracking possibilities and accurate arrival estimates give customers a sense of security.
If you trade outside the EU VAT borders, you must state in the store's delivery terms that the recipient is responsible for any import-related costs e.g., forwarding and taxes (VAT + possible customs). Otherwise, these costs might turn to be paid by the merchant.
Q4: How does the return process work for international packages?
In international trade, we basically recommend, depending on the product, leaving customer returns to be paid by end customers, this also reduces unnecessary returns and orders.
However, if you want to offer returns to your customers, it's recommended to create the return address card already during the original order, depending on the service, though we recommend a return shipping fee that will be paid by the end customer if they want to cancel the order.
Please note that the return process and possible return cost must be clearly stated in the delivery terms. If you haven't stated this, the return shipment will be paid by the online store.
Q5: How much does it cost to send a package abroad?
International delivery shipping fees vary depending on the size and weight of the package being sent. Different shipping companies charge on different bases, so it's worth investing in choosing the most suitable supplier for your products. Shipit's customer service helps in choosing the most sensible delivery option completely free of charge. However, sending small and medium-sized packages abroad doesn't cost significantly more than mailing them within the country.
Q6: Are there any other fees besides package shipping?
Adding international delivery options to your online store through Shipit never costs extra for the online retailer. If there are no deliveries abroad, there are no costs.
Q7: Where abroad is it easiest to start shipments?
The easiest is to start shipments within EU countries. However, you don't need to open all countries at once. We would encourage opening a few countries first, such as Sweden, Germany, and the Baltic countries. If you have a marketing budget, we would encourage testing marketing in target countries and seeing how shipments develop. Over time, it's easy to include new target countries within the EU.
Q8: How does Shipit help online stores internationalize?
We have helped numerous online stores find the best delivery methods for international deliveries. We want to encourage even small online stores to embrace international deliveries, as it's not significantly more expensive than domestic shipments. With Shipit's services, you add familiar delivery methods for recipients to your store's checkout and simultaneously increase store conversion. We're happy to help in choosing the most suitable delivery options completely free of charge!
Q9: How do you start sending international packages in practice?
Download the Shipit plugin for your online store (free for most platforms). You'll receive instructions for this directly to your email.
Create a payment relationship with Shipit. Creating a payment relationship doesn't create any costs itself. If there are no shipments in the online store, there are no costs.
Choose your desired delivery methods for your online store and price them. Through Shipit, you have access to all the most common delivery options. Note: if you already have an existing contract number, you can also use it through Shipit. In this case, you inform us of the existing shipping company and contract number.
Ready!
Q10: If I need help, where can I contact?
Our customer service serves every weekday from 9-16.
You can quickly handle your matter through our website chat
by sending us a message at customerservice[at]shipit.fi
or by calling +358 (0) 20 752 8488.
- Let's make sending packages easy together!
Also check our supplementary instructions